Superheater header



Au 19, 1930. M'.'HAR D v SUPERHEATEB HEADER 2 Sheets Sfieet 1,

Filed July 7, 1928 ATTORNEY.

M: HARD SUPERHEATER HEADER 7 Filed July '7, 1928 2 snai-sneet INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 19, 1930.

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' t-ion, I begin with a substantiallyrectangular level of the fines.

tom of the header. 7

Patented J Aug. 1 9, 1930 MALCOLM HARD, or rtnsnrne, NEW YORK, ssrenon 1 0 THE 1 c PANY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUPERHEATER ooM- SUPERHEATER HEADER The present invention relates to headers for locomotive superheaters. The header for such a superheater'is, according to commonpractice, located in the smokebox above the The superheater comprises in addition to the header a pluralityof tubular units or elements extending into the fines or fire-tubesof the locomotive,the'ends of ,these units being secured by bolts to the bot- T he headers in ordinary use are made of a high grade cast iron and the art of making them has advanced so far that failures are almost unheard of. For some. reasons and under some conditions. however, it becomes desirable to make these headers ofplate steel. The main advantage of, a plate steelheader over the cast headers referred to above'is the matter of weight. A cast steel header could also probably be made materially lighter than a cast iron header but it has hitherto proved'impractical to use cast steel on ac-' count of the difficulty encounteredin casting. The art of welding has, however, progressed to such an extent bylthis time that such a header can be built up of rolled steel plates.

The'most approved form of these headers is the so-called thru-bolt type. .By this'expression is meanta typeof header in which the heads of theboltsare on the upper side" of the header; thelbolts extending through proper openings in the header, and the nuts being on the under side. 1 The present invention relates to this thr'u-bolt typefiof header and has for its object theprovision of an improved form of such a header made'of plate steel.

Theheader is illustrated on the drawings herewith in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation partly in section on line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a top view of a header, part of it in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig.2.:and Fig. is a sheet of steel 1 and bend it to form the rear chamber 2 and the front chamber 3. These chambers have their inner sides, which face each other, open at this stage; A series of elongated openings 4- 4 have been formedin '7 the upper sheet in a position which will be clear from-the drawings. Into these openings are next welded a'corresponding number of flattened thimbles 5-5. At the points 6-, these thimbles are in contact with the inner edges of the sheet 1.

.Plates 8-8 are next welded in at alternate ends of the passages 9-9 between the thimbles. These plates are welded to the edges of the sheet 1, to the top plate and to neighboring thimbles. Next, blocks of steel 7-7 are welded in to fill up the space between the edges of the sheet 1 and neighboring thimbles. These blocks have openings 19-19 end edges'of plate 1 and to the outer plates 7.

A connection 11 are closed by the d V is welded into a suitable opening cut'into the 7 rear chamber 2to which connection pipe is secured in" the ordinary Similarly two connections 12-12 the dry manner.

are pro-- vided for the attachment of the steam pipes,

these connectionsbeing welded into suitable openings cut into the front chamber 3. i The openings for these several connections are most conveniently made by means of a torch. although the sheet may if desired be suitably stamped outbefore it isbent into shape.

The attachment for the superheater units is illustratedvin Fig. 1 where two superheater ends 13-13 are illustrated. These ends have enlarged heads 14-14 in accordance with the ordinary practice, whichare pressed against I the seatsin theopenings 8-8 by -means of the clamp 15, washers 16-16 being interposed between the clamp and the enlarged heads 14-14. The clamp ispulled in the desired direction by means of the bolts 16* extending through the thimble 5. the head 17 resting on the'upper end of the thimble and" the'nut 18ybeing on-the underside of: the

clamp. 1 Ittwillbe understood thatcwhile only r in one opening lying opposite attachments exactly to one pair of unit ends others lie in line with them. In the particular header shown, there will be four bolts through each thimble. This method of attaching the units represents standard practice and illustrates that the present header can be used with standard equipment.

It will be seen from the above description that by the method described a header is provided which will conform in its dimensions and arrangement for the superheater the present standards. All the advantages of the thru-bolt type are present. and in addition the header is of substantially lighter structure and has all the advantages inherent in its being made of steel.

Obviously some changes can be introduced in practicing my invention without depart ing from its spirit.

I claim:

1. In a bi-chambered steel-plate header, a partition separating one chamber from the other, said partition comprising a series of open-ended flattened thimbles extending between and welded to opposite sides of said header and adapted to have bolts extend through them.

2. In a bi-chambered steel-plate header, a partition separating one chamber from the other, said partition comprising a series of open-ended alined parallel. flattened thimbles extending between and welded to opposite sides said header, and plates welded in closing the passages between said thinnbles at alternate ends.

3. In a steel-plate header of the type described, the combination of a top, a bottom, a plurality of openended flattened alined parallel thimbles extending through and welded to said top and bottom. and plates with their edges welded to the top and bottom and to the thimbles in such manner as to close the passages between the thimbles at alternate ends. 7 4. A steel-plateheader comprising a unitary generally rectangular sheet with its opposite portions bent to form two elongated parallel chambers with their inner sides open, a plurality of spaced plates welded into each of said openings the spaces left 7 the plates of the other. open-ended flattened thimbles ex.- tending through said first plate and welded to opposite'edges of said spaced plates, and a plurality of comparatively thick plates each filling a space betwcenopnosite edges of said first named plate and adjacent thimbles and welded thereto. 7

'5. In a. steel-plate header, the combination I of a continuous sheet forming the top,.back.

and front of the header, 2. portion of the bottom adjacent to the front, and a portion of the bottom adjacent to the back; and means forming the remaining portion of the hotand one bolt is shown,

tom comprising a plurality of relatively thick small plates.

6. In a steel-plate header, the combination of a continuous sheet forming the top, back, and front of the header, a portion of the bot-- tom adjacent to the front, and a portion of the bottom adjacent to the back; means forming the remaining portion of the bottom comprising a plurality of relatively thick plates two of-whose opposite edges are welded to the edges of the first-named plate; a plurality of open-ended flattened thimbles extending through and welded to the firstnamed plate and between said thick plates and welded to them; a plurality of plates with their edges welded into the openings betweensaid thimbles at alternate ends; end plates welded to the end edges. of said first named plate and to the outer thick plates; and connection means welded into said front and back.

7. The method of making a plate steel header, comprising the steps of bending a generally rectangular plate to form two parallel spaced chambers with their junta-posed inner sides open, providing the plate with a plurality of slots, welding a flattened thimble into each slot, welding steel plates in to close the passages between the thimbles at alternate ends, welding a relatively thick steel plate in each opening between the opposite edges of the rectangular plate and the several thimbles, and providing suitable connections to the two chambers.

8. The method of making a plate steel header, comprising the steps of providing a generally rectangular steel. plate with a plurality of parallel alined slots, spaced from theedges of theplate: and bending the portions between the ends of the slots and the edges" of the plate to form two chambers on the same side of the plate and parallel to each other. I i

9."The method of making a plate steel header comprising the stepsof providing a generally rectangular steel plate with a plurality of parallel alined slots, welding the ends of open-ended flattened thimbles into the slots, and welding steel blocks between the opposite ends of the thimbles so that the blocks lie in a plane parallel to the sheet.

MALCOLM HARD. 

